London Calling
“Why, she asked herself, was Edinburgh so beautiful? The question had come to her as she rounded the corner on the high road, round the crumbling volcanic side of Arthur’s Seat, and saw the Old Town spread out beneath her—the dome of the Old College with its torch-carrying Golden Boy; the domestic jumble of Old Town roofs, the spires of the various spiky kirks—such beauty, illuminated at that very moment by shafts of light from breaks in the cloud. This was beauty of the order encountered in Siena or Florence, beauty that caused soaring of the spirit, a gasp of the soul.”
Departure Panic
Here is a quick tour of the apartment where we stayed during our final five nights in Edinburgh (not quite as nice as the Old Merchant’s House, but it did the job): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNg3FU2OR70
It seems whenever I travel, a sort of panic often sets in the day before departing for home. I find myself wondering if I’ve made the most of the opportunity and done everything I wanted to do before leaving. Afterall, most destinations are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, anything mistakenly missed a potential regret. Yet leaving Edinburgh felt particularly poignant. Did I align Edinburgh with the new-found freedom of retirement? Maybe the passing of truly memorable Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations made me nostalgic? Or was it simple affection, having to say goodbye to a particularly enjoyable journey? Given our borderline fanatical visits to Harry Potter, Outlander, and Fire Saga sites, maybe we loved Edinburgh so much because of all the fun filming connections. To all these I say yes! But perhaps Edinburgh still managed to rise above their sum because it was also undeniably unlike anywhere we’ve ever visited.
The people were warm and welcoming, and—except for the tripping hazards of unendingly uneven setts and cobbles—we felt safe walking everywhere, even late at night. Efficient public transportation provided a wonderful break from driving, moving us throughout the city and to far-flung places like the Royal Yacht Britannia, Cramond Island, Craigmillar Castle, Rosslyn Chapel, and even Costco.
Snow amongst the cobbles.
London brims with history, but much of it is covered in the polish and chaos of a metropolis. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love London, but it now seems forever overshadowed by its smaller cousin to the north. Edinburgh retains its edge with cobbled streets, narrow wynds, mysterious kirkyards, and a high street that still leads to an imposing castle on a hill. Despite removing the Flodden Wall and constructing New Town, Edinburgh remains compact. Walking through the city you retain the wonderfully distinct impression that one foot is in the modern world and the other in a bygone era. At night you almost see Mr Hyde, Deacon Brodie, or Burke & Hare slipping ominously off the high street into a darkened close, or traversing the South Bridge vaults by flickering lantern light.
Whether standing inside the tiny, ancient St Margaret’s Chapel on Castle Hill, surveying the Holyrood Abbey and St Anthony’s Chapel ruins, or listening to the choir inside the magnificent St Giles Cathedral—the city evokes the divine. King David I’s 1128 vision of the flaming rood in a deer’s antlers still echos throughout Edinburgh loudly nearly a millennium later.
Edinburgh is a uniquely special city indeed. And thus, the subtle, creeping panic as we prepared to leave it behind. I found myself surveying my surroundings, running through a mental checklist of things we might have missed. Rationally I knew we had not only seen the highlights, but had also soaked in the minor sites, and even gone back and caught things we missed. When I read about the Arthur’s Seat Coffins and Greyfriars Bobby’s collar, I was able to go back to the respective museums and see these items.
I’ve lived long enough to recognize my panic for what it is—a form of early mourning for the inevitability of a loss that has not yet happened. I will be sad when we leave. I feel it already.
First Dinner of 2023
Fittingly, Keith joined us on our way to dinner on New Year’s Day, our last night in Edinburgh.
Pictures from our final dinner at Markars Mash Bar:
Edinburgh to London
Was nearly two months living in Edinburgh too long? Absolutely not. Edinburgh is a city you can settle into—its antiquity washing over and slowly enveloping you until you’re besotted. By the time we left, Edinburgh had made us feel like we belonged. We loved every minute in Edinburgh, but, alas, we do have so much more we want to see and experience.
Departing from Edinburgh Waverley rail station (named after Sir Walter Scott’s first novel)
On Monday, January 2, we boarded the 10:30 LNER (London North Eastern Railway) train from the Edinburgh Waverley railway station (Platform 6 and not 9¾ I’m afraid) and enjoyed the 4½-hour journey through the countryside to London.
Arriving at London King’s Cross rail station before entering entering the King Cross Underground for a short journey to Green Park.
Emerging from the calm of the train and descending into the chaos of the London Underground, it was clear that my standing impression of Edinburgh as a big city, was misguided. Now it is time to explore another world-class city, but our time in Edinburgh will remain forever imprinted in our minds as one of life’s greatest moments.
London
One of the greatest things about the UK is the naming of their pubs. The Goat Tavern is a few hundred streps from our London Apartment in Mayfair. Dinner was very good, although we’re finding that, like so much in our modern world, corporations have gobbled up many of the pubs. Consequently, we saw identical menus at multiple pubs in Edinburgh and now we’re seeing the exact same menus here in London. The names and locations may be very different, but the meal options are very limited.
After dinner we went for a walk and no, we’re not in Amsterdam. We’re staying in Mayfair, which is a very exclusive part of London, where every imaginable high-end designer has a storefront. Thankfully even Amanda knows better than to walk into any of these shops.
The great part of being in such a nice area is they really go all out with Christmas decorations (and they follow the twelve days of Christmas, so everything will be up through January 6).
Flowing from the Eros status in Piccadilly Circus' Eros statue are the winged creatures which glide down Piccadilly.
Winged creatures of Piccadilly
Also on Piccadilly is the Fortnum & Mason department store, the entire building designed to look like an Advent calendar—and it’s animated (see the video at the end of the post):
Nearby, 45 angels soar over Regent Street. The original 1954 Christmas light display on Regent Street featured lit up angels, and the updated version is called Spirit of Christmas. Each Spirit of Christmas angel has a 45-foot wingspan and a 50-foot train. In total they are covered in 300,000 LED lights that pulse to give the impression of flight. The wings are barely lit above…
….mostly lit here…
…and fully illuminated here.
You can see the wings nicely at the very beginning of the following video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jgISSpRrok
